The Haunted Hoard: Blameless (PC)
When a game is released for free, people tend to cut it a lot of slack, excusing its flaws because there was no price of admission. Unfortunately, such a stance leads to dishonesty about the game’s quality, as the price of something does not impact the actual design of the game. Blameless was released on Steam for no cost to play and seems to be an earnest effort to contribute to the indie horror scene, but that is again another obfuscating factor that helps shield it from criticism in some eyes. However, in order for the developer to grow and the community to become more discerning about what it’s willing to accept regardless of price point, an honest evaluation of a game like Blameless is required, and unfortunately, this is a rather poorly constructed title.
I will start with a small praise for it though. The game takes place in a house that is under construction, and while many horror games will take you to a rundown location that taps into the eeriness of decay and dilapidation, a building that has not yet fully formed has its own appeal. In some ways, it even looks destroyed because of parts that are not yet complete, and areas that haven’t been paved over properly or painted have the roughness you would expect from a location far older than one that is literally new. The incomplete nature makes the location feel dangerous and the house isn’t easily navigable yet because doorways are still sealed and some rooms contain piles of building materials. Visually, the game world looks nice, and since the story takes place at night with light sources that add to the ambience, the graphics at least serve their part well enough when it comes to establishing a tone. The sad thing is, despite the interesting pick for a setting, very little is done with the idea besides its small effect on the available walking space. The house is under construction but it isn’t truly dangerous, with the worst you have to worry about being a fuse box tripping. Rather than using this design for anything other than visuals, the game’s scares mostly come from little oddities like unexplained sounds and lights going off that aren’t tied to the environment’s state. They are simple attempts to suddenly inject some weak fear into otherwise empty moments, and very quickly it becomes clear that despite having this construction site to explore, most of the rooms serve little purpose. This is partially because there is hardly anything to do in the game at all.
Some games certainly rely on the experience of moving through an environment that tells a story rather than putting challenges to test the player in the path of progress, but if you try to slot Blameless in as a narrative exploration game, it hits the issue of hardly having a narrative to work with. You start off as an architect who is called out to look at a house and a mysterious man hits you over the head with a pipe. When you wake up, you’re inside a part of the house with no obvious exits and no idea what is going on, and as you explore the house and find your way through its unfinished design, it mostly stays that way. Very little is done to establish anything about your character or situation, and while there is one development to uncover in one room, most everything else you find is just devoted to selling the idea that you are in an authentic unfinished building. Notes you find are about dry things like how to operate the fuse box or how ladders are on lease, and when you do finish the game, things are abruptly wrapped up without answering a few of the big questions. Now, the way the game concludes could make for a decent prologue to a full game, or even just serve as a demo to whet your appetite before a release that seeks to expand on what little is presented here with more developments and content, but that does not seem to be the case. The official website for Blameless seems to be more about Minecraft than the game the developer created and I’ve found no statement from the developer on any related projects in the works despite what seems like a sequel hook at the end. It seems like the developer moved onto an unrelated title called Time, Space and Matter, so perhaps Blameless is meant to be some way of drawing attention to it as an unrelated but free hook. If there is a true follow-up game on the way, it doesn’t change the fact that Blameless was released as a standalone anticlimactic story with very little to latch onto besides a start, finish, and a small moment in middle of the game.
Blameless only has one ending, but the path there can branch a tiny bit, in that there are small puzzles blocking your progress and you sometimes get to pick which of two problems you solve. These moments of choice don’t amount to much, as they are often the player choosing between a quick and easy solution or choosing one that takes a bit longer to complete with no reward for going the extra mile. Most of what you need to do is use one object on another object, so they are not really puzzles that ask you to think much. They are tasks you need to complete to open the way onward, whether it be fixing a pair of bolt cutters or finding out how to open an attic hatch you can’t quite reach. The most complex action is perhaps just following some instructions you find on a piece of paper, so Blameless can’t really make up for its story faults with its gameplay. Blameless is, however, quite short, not likely to take up even an hour of your time. While much of the game is unexciting, it is competently constructed, save some visual hiccups with items you’re carrying. In the moment, you might not really be entertained by Blameless, but its major problem is that its dullness is not offset by a sufficient payoff. By not doing much of anything, Blameless can’t fail at too much, so instead it’s hollow because nothing risky was put in the title. With not much trying to engage or upset you, things end up upsetting because there is nothing engaging.
THE VERDICT: Besides being free, what is the hook of Blameless? Its horror is tepid, mostly amounting to some mood lighting and a few weak moments of oddness. Its story had potential, but it wraps things up with a twist that probably tries to blind the player with something that seems clever but doesn’t explain much about the situation or leave clues for the player to theorize what the game was about. The gameplay has very few things to do, most problems solved through clicking on objects with other objects until they work together to open the way onward. The only thing I can latch onto is the visuals are effective and it could be a very interesting setting for something more substantial. It establishes an effective atmosphere, it just doesn’t know what to do with it. That small kernel of moody exploration fits well with a game that is ultimately too short to really upset a player, but Blameless does still feel empty despite its compact nature.
And so, I give Blameless for PC…
A TERRIBLE rating. Blameless’s issue is a lack of merits, making the few things it does put an effort into read as more than simply bad as they have nothing good to counterbalance them. At best, the visuals and setting concept make it nice enough to walk around in, but if you find something tied to the plot or a moment of gameplay, it pitches weak ideas at you that won’t satisfy. The entirety of its plot can fit in a paragraph without removing important details and it would probably be better served that way than having a pretense of being something more, and the puzzles, while not awful, are just sort of busywork on the path to a weak conclusion.
As I said earlier, if Blameless is a portion of something more, it could have potential. It’s basic but it’s not irredeemable if there is plenty of work put into what comes after it. Unfortunately, it is a standalone game, and even if one day the developer does produce a follow-up, this should have just been the start of that game rather than something trying to drum up interest in a possible future release. A game shouldn’t amount to what is essentially a demo’s worth of content. Just remember if you do consider giving this game a chance that while Blameless is free to purchase, it is not truly free to play, as you must spend your time to play it. That time investment certainly has some value, and even if you have plenty of free time, there are still many more free games out there that would prove to be the better time investment.
Blameless’s creator could have a future in game development, but if the title’s free nature leads to misplaced praise, it could taint any effort they take to make a proper product. In fact, in some ways, a free title is the perfect chance to invite critique, as it opens the door to so many perspectives that could influence future refinement.
Story and gameplay are the two pillars of video game design. One could almost be entirely absent, but if the other is good enough, the end product can still be excellent. Blameless barely touches on either, so much like the house you explore in the game, it feels unfinished.